Obama Assembles a Centrist
Administration

Just days after being elected president, Barack
Obama began assembling his cabinet. Faced with the worst financial
crisis since the Great Depression, an unpopular war in Iraq, and a
deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, he selected appointees known
for their experience and resolve. Most were considered centrists,
leaving many liberals wondering when and if their ilk would be
represented in the White House.

Obama's picks for his national
security team illustrate the centrist slant. For the first time in
history, a sitting secretary of defense, Robert Gates will remain in
the position under a new administration. Obama selected former rival
Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Clinton, Gates, and his choice
for national security advisor, Gen. James Jones, all supported the
Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Obama, however,
has an established record of dissent in the implementation and
execution of the war.

Economic Team

On the economic
front, Obama plucked Timothy Geithner, the president of the Federal
Reserve Bank in New York, as treasury secretary, and Lawrence Summers,
former treasury secretary, as director of the National Economic
Council. The two men are both alums of the Clinton administration who
earned praise for their handling of the woes during the 1990s,
including the Asian financial crisis and the failure of Long Term
Capital Management, a hedge fund. Both, however, have been involved in
policy decisions that contributed to the current crisis. As treasury
secretary under President Clinton, Summers backed a law that
deregulated derivatives, a move that ultimately led to unfettered
lending, which contributed to the current situation. In his current
position, Geithner had a hand in formulating President Bush's response
to the financial meltdown.